07/25/2007

Parappa Songs for Free

Parappa the Rapper is a seminal music game, one of the first to cross over into North America with cult success. Parappa is such a charming character, and the engaging, clever, sweet songs were part of what made the game so fun.

A great original soundtrack can really elevate a game to the next level. I feel that way about both Katamari and Loco Roco - Katamari would be good, but not brilliant, without the amazingly far-ranging and creative soundtrack. Loco Roco, a less successful game, is still a minor jewel because of its adorable, completely hummable songs. In the case of Loco Roco, the music goes a long way to imparting personality to those simple little blobs, too.

It's no coincidence, of course, that the creator of Parappa is a musician, and that his game studio, NanaOn-Sha, looks like half a development shop, half a recording studio, with an entire soundproofed room full of instruments and mixing boards. Good music games can't be made by people who don't care about music, I should think.

Can good games about World War II be made by people who don't care about history, or about the military? I'm thinking of this question this morning trying to answer an imaginary question - but one that we do hear all the time - "What should I study to become a game developer?" Well, for a start, you have to wonder, what kind of game developer? There are skills, for example, that used to lead to entry-level foot-in-the-door jobs, but much of that grunt work is now increasingly outsourced. QA testing, except in rare cases, is a dead end at many companies. Still, real skills are always important - if you work on an art team, you should be familiar with the tools that your company uses; but to become Art Director, you should have a breadth of imagination and an ability to inspire and lead a team that you don't necessarily get from a graphics degree program.

I think that's true in any job. You don't get ahead if you can't create vision beyond your own work. You have to be able to see the total picture, to absorb what others are doing, to understand how your piece fits in. It's not just a matter of becoming really, really good at your job. Although, of course, that helps, too. And people like Masaya have the vision to combine elements they care about, to believe it can happen, even when not many people have done it before.

This is a long-winded post that started with just a few simple songs. I think I'll go back to listening to them now!